Saturday, January 08, 2005

Edumacation

One thing that has distressed me for a long time is the state of our Education System. The more I read the worse I feel. I'm gathering information for the time when I can do something though and for now I will just have to swallow it. However it is repulsive and frightening what is happening to the children year after year in the mean time.

It’s estimated that somewhere between six and seven million school children have been administered mind-altering medications. How many parents have been coerced or seduced into approving this is unknown, but some of these drugs produce suicidal thoughts.
Children in America’s schools are not all suffering from some mental health problem, unless you include the boredom that ensues from being forced by the “teach from the test” requirement in order to pass the many standardized, national tests required by the No Child Left Behind program. In its first term the Bush administration has strengthened Federal control over the schools, neglecting the aspirations of Ronald Reagan to actually rid the nation of the Department of Education. The fact that the
nearly 52 million children in public schools do not all learn at the same rate is ignored. Any information not reflected on the tests tends to get ignored because those test scores are tied to funding. NCLB is as cruel and stupid a program as could have been devised and it cost taxpayers some $50 billion. Not surprisingly, many school districts have opted out of the program to avoid the stifling effect on their curriculums.This standardization of education about the Constitution teaches a government-approved version and nothing could be more un-American than that. The Constitution makes no provision for the Federal government to be involved in education. That is a power that belongs exclusively to the States and local communities.
The United Nations has gained a foothold in our schools with its International Baccalaureate program, underwritten by UNESCO. Writing about the IB program earlier this year, one critic wrote her local newspaper to point out that “Administrators do not tell you that the current IB program for ages three through grade twelve promotes socialism, disarmament, radical environmentalism, and moral relativism, while attempting to undermine Christian religious values and national sovereignty.” And, of course, we all want the UN to be involved in the education of American children, don’t we? NOT! -The Autonomist

And of course it's no surprise that Bush had to bend and break rules to push that ridiculous program through. What has he not done that for??

A company run by Armstrong Williams, the syndicated commentator, was paid $240,000 by the Education Department. The goal was to deliver positive messages about Bush's education overhaul, using Williams' broad reach with minorities. The Bush administration has promoted No Child Left Behind with a video that comes across as a news story but fails to make clear the reporter involved was paid with taxpayer money. It has also paid for rankings of newspaper coverage of the law, with points awarded for stories that say Bush and the Republican Party are strong on education. The GAO has twice ruled that the Bush administration's use of prepackaged videos -- to promote federal drug policy and a new Medicare law -- is "covert propaganda" because the videos do not make clear to the public that the government produced the promotional news.-CNN

About Me

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."
- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged